In the face of the national budget crisis, the Obama administration ramped up its amnesty efforts in January 2013: first, by increasing the availability of deportation waivers; then, by expanding its call center hours to help illegal aliens apply for the waivers. Judicial Watch immediately filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking records on both fronts. On March 15, 2013, the U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Service (USCIS) released a two-page email between the agency and a contractor answering six questions about the call center hour expansion. Judicial Watch on March 26, 2013 filed an appeal of the agency’s determination, pointing out that it was impossible for the federal government to have launched such a massive undertaking without any planning or forethought. Interestingly, five days after responding to Judicial Watch’s records request, the agency cancelled its Saturday call center hours.